Thursday, November 13, 2008

Inking Advanced pt 1 - Logical line weights

Deciding on where to put thick and thin lines can almost be boiled down to a science. In 2 parts1) Logical line weight2) Emotional line weight

LOGICAL LINE WEIGHT

Here is a pencil drawing of a key pose from a scene. It needs to be inked.

The inking has to make sure that the charactr reads easily and quickly.It needs to look solid.It needs a hierarchy of line weights.The lines need to flow around the forms.

1) HEAVIEST LINE WEIGHT

The heaviest line weight is around the overall form of the pose or silhouette ("sillo")I generally like a slightly heavier line at the bottom of major objects:The jawthe feetThis gives the whole character a feeling of weight.

This example still has a couple mistakes, but Brian is fixing them an I'll replace it.Missing the cuff, the right side of the jacket foldlegs should have more consistent weight with the rest of the characterThe bottom of the left cuff should be inked in this weight

2) 2ND WEIGHT LEVEL slightly less heavy

Design elements that are subdivisions of the overall character have a line weight that is still thick,but slightly thinner than the outline of the silloLike clothes, or the outline of the hair (not the individual hairs, but the overall form of the hair)Or color separations on animal characters

3 DETAILS

The details, wrinkles folds etc are the thinnest linesThey should not be totally one weight though, they should be slightly thicker in the middleThese lines need to flow around the larger shapes in the same form and perspectiveWhere these detail lines come to a stop in open space (like the fold on the jacket) -the ends should taper to a point.

EVERY LINE ON A DRAWING SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING

IT SHOULD DESCRIBE SOMETHING

THERE SHOULD NEVER BE FLOATING LINES THAT DON'T MEAN ANYTHING

ALL THIN DETAIL LINES SHOULD HELP DESCRIBE THE LARGER OBJECT THEY ARE PART OF

TOMORROW:EMOTIONAL LINE WEIGHT

The face is the most important part of every cartoon character. It follows the logical line weight aproach overall, but also has an "emotional line weight" that helps us see the expressions...

32 comments:

Hallo Mr.John KThis is very useful article, well, in fact I find your whole blog very interesting (how could it not be?) I just don't have a lot to add to it usually, comment wise, I mean.

About the inking thing... Actually I have never really been thinking that much about what logic I actually use to ink my characters... it's probably a bit different in comics than it is in animation. But now the real big question is: what is it that gives meaning to a line? I know this is a discussion that can go from here to eternity... and reminds me a lot about the big discussion in design and architecture, about what function is...But, if I may ask this question, when does a line have a meaning, and when does it not?

John, I'm a long time lurker and I can't draw a curved line without an eraser handy. Despite that, I love your blog -- I find your insights into cartoons and animation visionary at best and provocative at worst (and between the two, provocative is all the more fascinating).

Interestingly, it's these technical articles that really grab my attention. While I'll never use the tools or possess the talent, it gives me an insight into the intense passion and attention to craft that makes funny pictures funny.

I love these types of posts. I really want to know about drawing cartoons and you seem to have great information. Most of my drawings aren't quirky or funny enough to be cartoons but I'm trying. I'm lacking in spontineity and originality. I can draw fairly well but with more of an emphasis on crappy realistic stuff. Anyway, I was wondering if contrapasto and the distance of features and limbs should help determine line weight.

What I used to hate about 70s and 80s animation, was that rather than draw the pathetic model sheet tracings at another scale, which would entail actually drawing, they would merely track the camera IN for a close up, or away for a wide shote. And you would get this inconsistancy of line weights, sometimes in talking head dialog scenes (which probably should not be talking head shots, in full animation)

John,This is so interesting that I felt that you let us in suspense to know more about.That was when I read "EMOTIONAL LINE WEIGHT tomorrow"...to be continued.Can ask you something?: What are the best tools that help inking better? to follow these instructions

Fabulous basic post! Keep these tricks o' trade comin'. Titled "Stuff you rarely learn in animation classes." Seriously, I've learned more BEFORE and AFTER I went to college, by becoming friends with Comic book fiends and animators. Basic concepts that really make the difference.

I remember seeing Mike Allred once give a lesson to a young cartoonist: "Whatcha gotta do is a "half-moon" shape around the corners like Charles Burns and, ah, ha, 'Mike Allred', ha ha, ahem. See, it's 'thin-thick-thin...thin-thick-thin.'"

Over the past several years, I've observed line weight and experimented with it a lot. When I flesh out a character in pencil, I try applying weight and depth to the lines. It's not really anything anyone else could understand or appreciate in my style and work since all anyone wants now are stylishly-ugly cartoons that go against everything that animation stands for.

I dont know how my inking is. Sometimes I find it really hard to actually ink my drawings. I've never really given any thought to how I should ink an image. I just put the heavier lines where I feel they should be.

Hi John,what programm is best for digital cleanup? I used Toonboom because I like the rotating canvas feature. I did the exercise you posted about inking, but I'm still not happy with the result. Please leave some comment on my first attempt, so that I can go on and do better!